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Samuel Mutemi
Samuel Mutemi

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AI Won’t Replace Developers Anytime Soon—Here’s Why

#vibecoding #programming #ai #webdev

(Critiques of the distant future, please consider the date of publication 😅)

The Promise (and Pitfalls) of AI-Generated Code

AI coding assistants like Cursor and Claude have been game-changers for developer productivity. They can scaffold entire applications, debug tricky issues, and even explain complex concepts in seconds. But can they fully replace software engineers?

Not yet—and here’s a funny (and frustrating) example of why.

The Case of the Broken Countdown Timer

I recently asked Cursor to generate a Next.js landing page with a countdown timer to my product launch. It did most of the work well—the UI looked great, the logic seemed sound, but when I tested it… the timer was stuck.

I alerted the AI, but instead of fixing the issue, it just:

  • Repeated the same code
  • Gave me a generic checklist (e.g., "Check if the date is correct")
  • Missed the glaring problem

Next, I pasted the code into Claude. It thought it was a hydration issue (a reasonable guess in Next.js) and tweaked the code—but the timer still didn’t work.

The Obvious Bug AI Missed

After some manual debugging (thankfully, I know JavaScript), I spotted the issue:

function getTimeLeft() {
  const launchDate = new Date(); // 🚨 Problem: This resets EVERY render!
  launchDate.setDate(launchDate.getDate() + 35); // 5 weeks from today
  const now = new Date();
  const diff = launchDate.getTime() - now.getTime();
  // ... rest of the logic
}
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The bug? launchDate was being recalculated on every render, meaning the countdown always showed 0 (since now and launchDate were effectively the same time).

The fix? **Make launchDate a static field (From what future date are we counting down?):

const LAUNCH_DATE = new Date("2025-06-01");

function getTimeLeft() {
  const now = new Date();
  const diff = LAUNCH_DATE.getTime() - now.getTime();
  // ... rest of the logic
}
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Why AI Still Needs Human Oversight

  1. AI Lacks Deep Context

    • It didn’t realize launchDate should be static.
    • It followed patterns but didn’t understand the intent.

  2. Debugging Requires Reasoning, Not Just Repetition

    • Both assistants gave plausible suggestions but didn’t diagnose the root cause.

  3. Trivial Mistakes Are Hard for AI to Spot

    • Humans recognize "obvious" errors faster because we think in terms of goals, not just syntax.

The Verdict: AI is a Powerful Assistant, Not a Replacement

AI has made incredible progress, but it still:

✔ Struggles with nuanced logic

✔ Misses simple but critical bugs

✔ Needs human guidance for real-world scenarios

So, developers, rest easy, your job is safe (for now). AI is a tool, not a replacement. And honestly? That’s a good thing.

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